The reasoning behind Trump pulling out of the Paris climate agreement

In a speech in the White House Rose Garden on Thursday afternoon,
President Donald Trump laid out his reasons for pulling out of
the Paris climate agreement, an international effort to reduce
global warming, which he called a "self-inflicted major economic
wound" that weakens US sovereignty and doesn't do much for the
environment.

The president argued that the 2015 agreement, which nearly every
country in the world signed onto, "hamstrings" the US economy,
particularly the manufacturing and fossil fuel industries, hurts
American workers, and empowers countries that pollute almost as
much or more than the US.

"The bottom line is that the Paris agreement is very unfair, at
the highest level, to the United States," Trump said.

He claimed that the agreement would impose "draconian financial
and economic burdens," costing America $3 trillion in domestic
economic activity and 6.5 million industrial and manufacturing
jobs.

"The agreement is a massive redistribution of United States
wealth to other countries," Trump said, arguing the deal would
"transfer" American coal jobs to China and India.

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said in a statement that the
agreement would result in "economic carnage."

In line with his "America First" motto, the president argued that
the deal would put international interests ahead of American
needs.

"I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not
Paris," he said.

Vice President Mike Pence claimed Trump's decision proves
his commitment to "forgotten" Americans, particularly those
in communities that voted heavily for Trump in November.

"Our president is choosing to put American jobs and American
consumers first," Pence said. "Our president is choosing to put
American energy and American industry first. And by his action
today, President Trump is choosing to put the forgotten men and
women first."

And as Business Insider's Josh Barro
pointed out, the climate agreement is non-binding in nature,
so therefore Trump's withdrawal from it is largely symbolic.

But
US and international corporations, including major oil
companies Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil and BP, support the
Paris agreement, arguing that climate change is a threat to their
businesses and that rejecting the deal would harm the
international relations their global operations rely on. Dozens
of other CEOs
have similarly argued that pulling out of the deal will hurt
the US economy.

Still, Trump emphasized his claim that the accord imposes harsher
restrictions on the US than on other big polluters, putting
America at a "permanent disadvantage." He suggested that
countries around the world are celebrating the deal because it
gives them an economic edge over the US.

Although he called out China and India, the two largest
polluters besides the US, Trump did not mention that the US, home
to about 4% of the world's population, is responsible for
almost one third of the excess carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere. While China, which makes up 20% of the
world's population, emits more CO2 now, historically, the US
has polluted more than any other country.

As for the impact of the accord on global warming, Trump
argued the deal would only lead to a "tiny" reduction in
global temperatures.

Trump has long criticized the Paris deal, promising to "cancel"
it on the campaign trail, and is an outspoken climate science
skeptic, calling climate change "an
expensive hoax."